Naga's Story
by turbo denali
Summary: Some friendships really can last more than one lifetime, and that includes the friendship between an Avatar and their animal companion.


**Spoiler Warning: May contain spoilers up through all currently aired episodes (up to Book 4, Chapter 7: Reunion).**

**Disclaimer: ****_The Legend of Korra_**** is not mine. I'm just taking some of its characters out for a spin.**

**A/N: Thought i'd try something a bit different. Didn't turn out exactly as i'd expected it to, but that's okay. That's why it's called experimentation.**

**/**

Her earliest memories were little more than primal sensations. Warmth. Love. Contentment. The caring touch of a mother and the comfort of a protective presence. At some point after learning to walk, she took her first tentative steps into the tundra and her memory bank expanded. Excitement. Cold. Hunger. It was also then that her memories began to include sights and sounds. There was the unseasonable blizzard that swept in from the sea. Biting wind and white snow that blinded her. The howl of a fierce storm that drowned out the agonized wailing of a distressed mother and her terrified offspring. And after that… silence.

She could remember being lost in a world she did not yet know. The tundra was foreign and treacherous. She stumbled along through snowdrifts and slipped over ice. She was hungry, scared, and alone.

Then she heard it. A high pitched noise that instinct demanded she avoid. There was something else, however. Something even more powerful than instinct. It told her to follow the noise - to find its source. Her fear melted away as the sensation of familiarity overcame her body's defensive programming. She gave in to this new urge and dropped low, creeping forward until she could see around the large rock before her. There she found the _ugliest_, oddest looking creature she'd ever seen. It wasn't much smaller than her, but it moved on its hind legs and stood so that it looked a little taller. She sniffed. It smelled weird, too. And it was so _loud_. A second, deeper sniff told her the creature was alone, though it was covered in many smells that suggested this was not normally so.

It froze and looked up. She knew she'd been spotted. The two stared at each other. The creature was the first to move. Its furless face - how cold it must be! - tilted to the side and it extended a tiny paw in greeting. She cautiously shuffled forward and gave the paw a curious sniff. The creature made new noises - noises that she could somehow understand even though she herself could not replicate them. They were soothing. They made her think of warmth. Love. Contentment. Sensations she had gone without for far too long.

She stepped forward and nudged the paw with her head. The creature again let out that high pitched noise, only this time it did not alarm her. Instead, it made her inexplicably happy. That same paw moved over her head and scratched her behind the ears. This was right. Good. Affection was to be found here. She huffed and licked the hairless face, and the creature made the happy noise again.

Other creatures came soon after that. They were bigger than the one before her. Much bigger. Heat flashed from one creature's paw and she jumped back with a snarl. The fur on her neck rose and she slowly backed away. Suddenly, the small creature barked in dismay. It jumped between her and the bigger creatures, stomping its tiny paws in the snow.

"My friend!"

She froze and calmed. It was loud and clear, something she somehow understood immediately. She bumped the small creature with her nose and whimpered when the big creature stepped forward with its menacing heat. The small creature shouted and waved an arm. Snow slapped the bigger creature in the face, knocking it to the ground. One of the other big creatures let out a low noise and soon the rest of them joined in.

"She's coming home," said the small creature. Then it paused and looked back at her, bending to peek between her hind legs. "Yep, it's a she!"

And somehow she knew she was meant to follow this little creature. There was a kinship here. Even if the creature was ugly and smelled funny and was noisy and did things that just didn't make sense, she knew she had to follow. This wasn't just any little creature. This was _her_ little creature.

/

Her human - now upgraded from "creature" - flopped down next to her and let out a pathetic whine. She understood why. Her human's pack was large and followed her no matter where she went. She did the same thing, of course. But that was different. She was _supposed_ to follow her human. She could tell she was supposed to because her human was always talking to her and doing nice things. Like scratching her belly. Oh, good idea. She rolled over and looked expectantly at her human, waiting for her to take the hint.

"You're spoiled, you know that?" said the human.

She huffed and wiggled closer. Her human laughed and the noise made her wag her tail. She suddenly rose to her feet and pounced on her human. The two friends rolled around in the snow and ignored the adult humans who walked by, most of whom had finally gotten used to the idea that it was okay for her to play with her human. They must've understood that it was a good thing. It was only natural that they should play together, of course. If they didn't, how would her human learn to take care of herself? Her little human was intelligent, but she was still tiny and weak and sometimes did stupid things. Wasn't it was her job to help protect her?

/

She didn't like it when her human cried. It made her sad. She was much bigger now, so her human could bury her hands and face in her fur. They could snuggle and that seemed to help, but not always. It was worse when her human's parents visited. They would stay for a couple of days and then leave again. Her human would cry for a little while each time, but only when it was just the two of them. It was okay. She understood. Sometimes she missed her mother, too.

/

She loved her human. They understood each other to an unnatural degree. She knew that much. A small part of her was aware of the fact that their friendship was… unusual. Most humans were frightened when they saw her for the first time and always seemed amazed when they saw the two behave like litter-mates. Once in a while she would encounter one of her own kind and even though she recognized them as such, she also saw that there was something inherently different about them. They were wild and unable to understand her the way she understood them.

She wasn't upset about any of this. Maybe it was because her human was her best friend and nothing could change that. They trusted one another. There was an unwavering bond that ran deeper than instinct. If she could express herself in words, she might even say this was a bond that transcended lifetimes. It was the truest form of unconditional love.

Of course, those long afternoon runs in the snow didn't hurt either.

/

Her human insisted on living in this new place and it wasn't bad. Sure, it was a little too warm. And crowded. And noisy. And sometimes she had to hide from the tiny cubs that were part of her human's new pack. But it wasn't bad overall. There were lots of things to do. Places to explore. People to sniff.

She lifted her head at the familiar sound of the other humans her friend had been spending time with. Males. Both of them. Brothers. When they first met, she could tell her human wanted to mate with one of them. She smelled different when he was around. The male wanted to mate, too. She supposed it was only natural. Her human was an alpha. The male was her age and he was strong and healthy. But instinct told her he wasn't _really_ her mate, so she wasn't surprised when her human stopped acting like she was in heat. That was fine with her. They didn't smell entirely compatible anyway.

/

Her human was often scared. It was unusual. She didn't like it. No good could come of anything that had her human so frightened and always on alert. She didn't like it when her human went off alone. She hated being told to stay behind and wait. It made her angry when she was in trouble and there was nothing she could do to help. And it happened too frequently.

There _was_ one thing that made her feel better - if only a little. The other humans - the two males and now another female - spent much time with her human and the pack. In fact, they were around so much they might as well be part of the pack. She didn't quite understand why they weren't. Humans were weird.

Aside from the fact it meant her human was seldom alone, there was another reason she was glad to have the other humans nearby. She liked the way the female made her human happy. It was a good thing. Her human needed to be happier and less afraid. The female made her laugh and feel more relaxed. And after a while, she began to notice a change. She smelled things. Familiar, yet slightly different. The other female liked her human. Maybe even wanted to mate with her. And if she didn't know any better, she'd say her human had started to feel the same. It didn't quite make sense to her. Even though the female was strong and healthy and smelled good, neither she nor her human acted on the attraction. Why shouldn't they? They smelled compatible, so there was no reason not to. But somehow, that didn't really matter. Her human was happy when this female was around. And if her human was happy, then she was happy.

/

Her human was hurt. Badly. She couldn't run or play and she didn't smile or laugh. It broke her heart and made her want to howl (though the middle of the night was apparently a bad time to do so even though she thought it most appropriate). Her human still spoke with her and scratched her belly. But when they were alone, she would clutch her fur and sob like she used to when she was a cub. At night, her human would whimper in her sleep and she would lick at her face until the noises stopped. And during the day, her human would stare out over the water until the sun disappeared.

She started to get better. It took a long time. Too long. But after a while, her human could walk again. She was elated when she could finally walk unaided. She still made upsetting noises in her sleep and was never entirely at ease. Even so, her human seemed to improve a lot after she started walking. She was so excited. She knew it wouldn't be much longer before they were once again rolling in the snow and running across great expanses of ice. It was almost like old times.

Then her human left.

/

Her human's father took her with him back to the warm place. She was disappointed. Her human was nowhere to be found. The cubs were there. So were other members of the pack. And the female, too. But where was her human?

/

Her human returned with the pack's cubs. She heard them coming before she could see them. As soon as she heard her human's voice, she jumped to her feet and raced to meet her. Her human. Her human was back. She could feel the thrum of that bond between them - the bond that ran deeper than instinct and lasted lifetimes. When she lifted her human into the air, she was reminded of her earliest memories. Warmth. Love. Contentment.

Her human was back.

**/**

**A/N: Aaaaaaand that experiment is done. Over. Fin. I've always thought that the Avatar's animal companion would have a sort of sentience that was above that of most animals, but wasn't quite at the same level of awareness or intelligence as the average human. It also made sense to me that Naga would grow with Korra, even if she matured at a different rate and only up to a certain point (hence the changes in word choice and phrasing). Anywho, i just wanted an excuse to put this bit of headcanon into a fic. So there ya have it.**


End file.
